March 16, 2012

Tony Norman And Chris Potter Agree!

I know both these guys. I've had beer with both these guys. Both were invited to my wedding (though only one had the decency to show - coughyerdeadtomenowpottercough). And so I think I can say that they agree on many things.

But when both write about the same topic at their respective papers in the same week, something big is happening.

Republican-dominated statehouses are rushing to pass beefed-up voter ID legislation ahead of the November presidential election. Republican governors are rushing to sign them while droning, in solemn tones, that "voter integrity" is at stake.

Pennsylvania's new law signed this week by Gov. Tom Corbett requires voters to show photo identification at the polls, just in time for the April primary and the November election. Funny how as Pennsylvania's former attorney general, Mr. Corbett never found the time to prosecute a case of the voter fraud his fellow Republicans insist is rampant in the state.

Huh. I never thought of that! That's why Tony gets paid to write and I'm just doing this for the heightened prestige.

OK, sure. In the words of the Brennan Center for Justice, "It is more likely that an individual will be struck by lightning than that he will impersonate another voter at the polls." But don't tell that to the Harrisburg Republicans pushing a "voter ID" bill. It'll just give them more ideas ... like passing legislation requiring tinfoil hats to be properly grounded.

As this issue goes to press, the state House appears poised to pass HB 934, which will require every voter to present a government-issued photo ID on Election Day. The measure passed the Senate last week and is almost certain to become law. Presumably, that will free Republicans up to focus on similarly urgent problems, like preventing alien abductions.

Because oddly enough, there are very few cases of people showing up at the polls while pretending to be someone else. A five-year probe by the Bush administration's Justice Department only turned up a few dozen such improprieties nationwide — out of some 300 million votes cast. Most of the fraud allegations you've heard about — like those involving activist group ACORN — involved forged signatures on candidate petitions. Requiring photo IDs on Election Day won't prevent that.

Still, HB 934 has been championed by the Pride of Cranberry, state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe. Metcalfe has called it "essential" to combating "the ever-present forces of corruption seeking to override the will of the people."

As we've written before, there's no voter fraud in Pennsylvania. And this bill is nothing more than a legislative attempt to make it more difficult for voters to vote Democratic.

Not to mention the price tag for enforcing these new rules, which could run into the millions by some estimates. No money for education, but Voter ID, which solves a problem that does not exist, is given a blank check!